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Seattle Pacific University student subdues campus gunman; 1 dead

Jon Meis is taken from the shooting scene by medics at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014 in Seattle. A 19-year-old man was fatally shot and two other young people were wounded after a gunman entered the foyer at Otto Miller Hall on the Seattle Pacific University campus and started shooting Thursday afternoon. When the gunman paused to reload, a student building monitor disarmed him. Meis is the student monitor who is credited with stopping the suspected gunman, Aaron R. Ybarra, 26, by pepper spraying him and tackling him.

Chelsea Yarbro, a senior in apparel design at Seattle Pacific University, places flowers at a memorial near Otto Miller Hall, Friday, June 6, 2014 in Seattle, where a shooting took place Thursday afternoon. A 19-year-old man was fatally shot and two other young people were wounded after the gunman entered the foyer of a Seattle Pacific University building and started shooting Thursday afternoon.

Students and faculty pray together following a shooting on the campus of Seattle Pacific University Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. Seattle police now say there are four victims in a shooting and say one suspect is in custody. Police say one man and one woman have life-threatening injuries while another man and another woman are reported in stable condition.

A police officer stands near the scene of a shooting on the campus of Seattle Pacific University Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in Otto Miller Hall, hidden behind the vehicle at left, on the campus, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor at Seattle Pacific University disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

Students mourn on campus after a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on June 5, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. A gunman is in custody after four people were shot on campus resulting in one death.

Medics wait behind cover after a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building at the small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person and injuring three others before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

Medics wheel away a person shot at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at a small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

Seattle police SWAT team members prepare their gear following a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building on the campus, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

Students help each other as they walk away from the scene of a shooting Thursday, June 5, 2014, at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle. Police say a university student on Thursday disarmed a lone gunman who entered a building and shot four people. A hospital spokeswoman says one man has died and three other people are injured, one critically. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Student Ann Gholston, center, talks on the phone near the site of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building at the small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person and injuring three others before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

A group of young people walk away past emergency vehicles near the scene of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building on the campus, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor at the university disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

Bomb squad officers search a white pickup truck parked outside Otto Miller Hall at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, on Thursday, June 5, 2014. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building at the small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person and injuring three others before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

Students are searched by Seattle police after a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building at the small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person and injuring three others before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

Authorities gather at the scene of a shooting Thursday, June 5, 2014 at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at the small Seattle university, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

The campus of Seattle Pacific University is in lockdown after a shooting that has injured at least four people.

Police and other emergency workers stand at the scene of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building on the campus, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor at Seattle Pacific University disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

Seattle Police SWAT officers run toward a campus building following a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at the small Seattle university, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said. Police say the student building monitor disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

Seattle firefighters remove a victim from the scene of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014 in Seattle. About 4,270 students attend the private Christian university, located in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.

Annalyse Hurd, left, and Olivia Hutton, center, pray at the First Free Methodist Church after a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014. A man that shot students was disarmed by others at the scene. (AP Photo/seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo)

Emergency personnel arrive on the scene near a shooting on the Seattle Pacific University campus Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. The university posted online Thursday that "the campus is in lockdown due to a shooting near Otto Miller Hall.

Onlookers embrace near the scene of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, June 5, 2014 in Seattle. About 4,270 students attend the private Christian university, located in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.

A Seattle police SWAT team member prepares his gear following a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building on the campus, killing one person. (ELAINE THOMPSON/The Associated Press)

Police officers conduct body searches on students after a shooting occurred on the Seattle Pacific University campus Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Dean Rutz)

A Seattle Pacific University student sits with a Bible in his lap in a prayer circle after a church service was full following a shooting on the campus of the university Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Students from Seattle Pacific University gather outside in a spontaneous prayer circle after a church service was full, following a shooting on the campus of the university Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A member of law enforcement works the crime scene after a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on June 5, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

A Seattle police SWAT team member walks toward a campus building following a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday. (ELAINE THOMPSON/The Associated Press)

SEATTLE — When a lone gunman armed with a shotgun at a small Seattle University stopped firing at students to reload, another student pepper-sprayed him and subdued him with the help of others and prevented more deaths, police said.

“There are a number of heroes in this,” Assistant Police Chief Paul McDonagh said. “The people around him (the gunman) stepped up.”

A 19-year-old man was fatally shot and two other young people were wounded after the gunman entered the foyer at Otto Miller Hall on the Seattle Pacific University campus and started shooting Thursday afternoon. When he paused to reload, a student building monitor disarmed him. The gunman had additional rounds and a knife, McDonagh said.

“But for the great response by the people of Seattle Pacific, this incident might have been much more tragic,” he said.

The man in custody was not a student at the school, McDonagh told a news conference.

Four people, including the young man who died, were rushed to Harborview Medical Center. A critically wounded 20-year-old woman was in intensive care late Thursday night after about five hours in surgery, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said. A 24-year-old man was hospitalized in satisfactory condition. A Seattle Fire Department official said the man suffered “pellet type wounds” to his neck and chest.

A 22-year-old man was treated and released, Gregg said. Police said he suffered minor injuries during the struggle with the suspect.

None of the victims was immediately identified.

Aaron R. Ybarra, 26, was booked into the King County Jail late Thursday for investigation of homicide, according to police and the jail roster.

Also late Thursday, police who said they were serving a warrant entered a house that was believed tied to Ybarra. A phone message left at that house in the north Seattle suburb of Mountlake Terrace was not immediately returned.

Messages left with friends and relatives of Ybarra via social media were not immediately returned.

The Seattle Times said the suspect’s father, Ambrose Ybarra, said he doesn’t know anything of the incident.

“We just hope he’s safe,” he told the paper. “It’s upsetting to have these accusations thrown around. We’re in emergency mode. We are trying to stay calm.”

The paper said Zack McKinley described himself as one of Ybarra’s closest friends and said he was “super happy and friendly.”

McKinley said the attack was puzzling because Ybarra had happy to have just started a new job bagging groceries at a store.

He said Ybarra didn’t do drugs or drink alcohol and spent time writing. Ybarra could get emotionally low, but McKinley said he had a good group of friends and never saw him depressed.

Student Chris Howard was at Otto Miller Hall when the shooting happened. He said he saw the wounded young woman on the floor being tended to by a classmate. Her chest was bloodied. Her phone was covered in blood, but she asked her helpers to look through her phone for her mother, aunt and best friend.

Soon after, police arrived. By then the suspect had been subdued. Howard ran outside and back through the lobby where he saw the man pinned on the floor.

“The suspect was calm. Not speaking. Not moving. Not struggling. Just there,” Howard said.

The afternoon shooting came a week before the end of the school year, and the situation was particularly tense when police initially reported that they were searching for a second suspect.

“It appears the suspect acted alone,” McDonagh said.

He said he did not know the gunman’s motive or intended target. Detectives are “working as quickly as we can to figure it out,” McDonagh said.

The university locked down its campus for several hours, and it alerted students and staff to stay inside. Some students were taking finals in the same building that the shooter entered.

Both the young man who died and the young woman suffered gunshot wounds to the body, Seattle Fire Assistant Chief Jay Hagen told the news conference.

On Thursday evening, people packed the First Free Methodist Church on campus for a service of prayers and song. So many people crowded into the building that dozens of people gathered on a lawn near the church and formed their own groups as the sun set.

“We’re a community that relies on Jesus Christ for strength, and we’ll need that at this point in time,” said Daniel Martin, university president.

About 4,270 undergraduate and graduate students attend the private Christian university. Its 40-acre campus is in a leafy residential neighbourhood about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle. The school cancelled classes and other activities Friday.

Jillian Smith was taking a math test on the second floor of Otto Miller Hall when a lockdown was ordered.

She heard police yelling and banging on doors in the hallway. The professor locked the classroom door, and the 20 or so students sat on the ground, lining up at the front of the classroom.

“We were pretty much freaking out,” said Smith, 20, a sophomore. “People were texting family and friends, making sure everyone was OK.”

About 45 minutes later, police came and escorted them out of the building two by two, she said. On the way, they passed the lobby where she saw bullet casings and what appeared to be blood on the lobby carpet and splatter on the wall.

“Seeing blood made it real,” Smith said. “I didn’t think something like this would happen at our school.”

The gun violence follows a spate of recent shootings on or near college campuses.

Last month, according to police, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured seven before turning his gun on himself in a rampage in Isla Vista, California, near two universities.

Seven people were killed and three injured when a 43-year-old former student opened fire at a tiny Christian school, Oikos University, in Oakland, California, in 2012. A gunman killed five people and injured 18 when he opened fire in a Northern Illinois University lecture hall in 2008.

In 2007, 32 people were fatally shot in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, before the gunman killed himself.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, noting previous mass shootings in the city, said: “Once again the epidemic of gun violence has come to Seattle.”

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